Severe thunderstorms on the cards for end of the week

THE Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed that conditions in the next few days could result in severe thunderstorms on the Sunshine Coast or elsewhere in south-east Queensland.

Bureau spokesman Jess Carey said a trough over Queensland was pulling hot, humid air towards a low moving towards inland New South Wales.

Mr Carey said the instability, humidity, high temperatures were the perfect recipe for severe thunderstorms between Rockhampton and Emerald and the Queensland-New South Wales border.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons between 1 and 6pm were the most likely times for the storms but he could not rule out Monday as well.

The storms could bring hail of 2cm, winds of 90km an hour, heavy rain, flash flooding or tornadoes.

Mr Carey said the storms would be localised and it was difficult to make predictions with any more accuracy until the storms were detected on radar.

"There's every chance that your place could have really clear conditions and there's every chance you could have thunderstorms as well," he said.

The Sunshine Coast Local Disaster Management Group has urged residents to be prepared for likely severe thunderstorms tonight and Friday, as it moves into "alert" status ahead of the weekend.

UPDATE:

SUNSHINE COAST-based storm chaser Jeff Higgins is pinning his hopes on the end of the week for a sky show.

"We could get a few little storms around this afternoon and a bit of rain but everything's really leaning towards it being tomorrow and Saturday," he said.

Mr Higgins said a trough currently sitting out towards Roma was likely to move through and, combined with other factors such as high humidity, lead to significant storm activity.

Mr Higgins, of Higgins Storm Chasing, is planning to hit the road to chase down storms between the Sunshine Coast and Rockhampton from tomorrow afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology's website currently shows light to moderate rain in the Hervey Bay-Maryborough region but little or none over the Sunshine Coast, despite grey skies and the forecast of an 80% chance of showers today.

The forecast still says there is a chance of a storm on the Coast today but the likelihood of rain diminishes throughout the afternoon.

UPDATE:

DISASTER management leaders on the Sunshine Coast are monitoring weather warnings as conditions set the scene for what could the most significant storms in the area this season.

Thunderstorms are a chance on the Coast today but the danger is expected to increase from Friday through to Monday.

State Emergency Service Sunshine Coast area local controller Janet Scott said no official severe weather warning had been received yet but pending conditions, SES volunteers could be placed on standby for tomorrow.

Sunshine Coast Council Disaster Management coordinator John Gallina said the council had not received severe weather warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) or the State Disaster Coordination Centre at this stage.

"We are, however, seeing unstable weather patterns and will continue to monitor conditions this week and across the weekend," he said.

Mr Gallina said people should continue monitoring weather warnings and Mrs Scott said they should make their own preparations for bad weather.

What to do to prepare:

1. Buy sandbags from their local hardware store and fill a few if their property was subject to flooding. AS an example, 10 to 12 sandbags were usually enough to block a garage door against floodwaters.

2. Makes sure there are no trees or branches over their houses which could fall or drop leaves during a storm which could clog the gutters.

3. Clean out gutters of any leaves or dirt which could cause them to overflow in heavy rain. Water overflowing from a gutter back into a house can cause the ceiling to collapse.

4. Make sure there were no loose objects or debris in the yard which could become missiles in high winds.

Mrs Scott said people were generally better prepared for bad weather these days than in previous years.

"I think people are preparing themselves a bit better than they used to for storms. We starting to find that if they hear rain's coming, we're getting a few requests for sandbags," she said.

"We can provide a few but we always recommend people get a few themselves because there's only so much we can do," she said.

8.30am:

SOUTH-EAST Queensland is bracing for what could be the worst thunderstorms of the season.

A small chance of thunderstorms has been predicted for the Sunshine Coast today, but Weatherzone meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the danger will increase from Friday to Monday.

"There's quite a deep trough moving over the region that's going to be fairly stationary with a lot of heat in it and a lot of moisture as well," he said.

"That mean's there's a lot of energy within it ready to be unleashed within the the thunderstorms.

"This is probably the most significant week of thunderstorms for south eastern Queensland that we've seen in quite a few months.

"It might even be the most significant storm activity of the season."

These damaging storms have the potential to bring with them damaging wind gusts, heavy rain leading to flash flooding and large hail stones.

The risk is expected to reduce sometime on Monday when the trough is expected to cross the coastline and move off shore, leaving behind more stable conditions.